Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B.R. NICHOLLS
500cc MX TITLE CHASE
Twelve different meetings scattered around Europe comprise the world 500cc motocross title chase, and this year the points race has remained close all season. Now, with only two rounds to go, the field has narrowed to three contestants, as Bengt Aberg, champion for the past two years, is no longer in contention. He never recovered from the first four meetings in which he did not gain a single point.
Injury spoiled the chances of former triple champion Paul Friedrichs (CZ) just when it looked as if he might cause a comeback sensation. John Banks, the hope of the four-strokers, hit a bad luck trail that ended when financial disaster hit the BSA group, folding their motocross effort. Yes, it has been quite a month for the 500cc motocross boys. Three meetings have been held and there have been three different winners.
BRITISH GP
It began with the British round. A problem arose because practice times were not taken to determine that all-im-
portant position on the starting line. This was resolved by letting the first 10 in the championship table go to the line in order to choose their positions for the first race. The first race times then determined grid positions for the second race.
As the melee of men and machines began to sort themselves out after the first corner, Adolf Weil (Maico) and John Banks (BSA) hurtled neck and neck up the first hill, with Banks using the torque of the four-stroke to gain advantage of the inside line for the next turn. Urged on by his home crowd, Banks took the lead with a prestige win as his only goal. Close behind were the title contenders Weil, his teammate Ake Jonsson, and Roger DeCoster, the lone Suzuki runner.
Weil had been in trouble during practice with the clutch on his new 405-cc radial-finned machine. He cured that, but wrecked a piston in the race. Before Weil retired, disaster struck Banks. His rear brake cable broke and he lost a lap having it replaced. That was when Jonsson took over the lead, only to lose it a while later when his engine flooded.
At that point, DeCoster nipped past, but Jonsson fought back in the 10 min. remaining to win by some 14 sec. Aberg was 3rd and Friedrichs finished 4th. Banks pulled back to take 9th placo with Andy Roberton the best Bccsa boy in 5th spot.
Perhaps the bravest ride was that of the young Belgian Jaak Van Vclthoven (Husqvarna), who rode with a badly swollen thumb tollowing a practice crash the day betöre. He came home in 6th place and followed it in the second race with 5th spot for 4th overall.
Ihe second leg saw Banks again starting well and taking an early lead by displacing Aberg after the first lap. Then, with both Jonsson and Friedrichs closing the gap, Banks overdid it and fell, letting them both past before he was able to get going again in front of 4th man DeCoster.
By this time Aberg had retired following a fall, and Jonsson knew that he could ease the pressure on himself by letting Friedrichs take the lead. Settling for 2nd place would still give him overall victory. And that was how they finished, with Banks holding 3rd place.
BSA SCRAPS MOTOCROSS PLANS
So Ake Jonsson won his first British motocross GP, with Friedrichs 2nd and DeCoster 3rd. Banks made 5th overall with few of those watching his spirited riding realizing that they were seeing the swan song of works-supported fourstroke machinery in world motocross.
The following day it was announced by the BSA group that as part of a big economy drive the competitions shop was to close. All motocross plans were scrapped. Riders were offered a bike each for the rest of the season with reasonable spares. But with no other help it was obvious that the team would look elsewhere for machinery, and that same day Roberton signed to ride Husqvarna for the British agent, Brian Leask. Banks was not so hasty and even now, three weeks later, has not committed himself, and wisely so. There could be some big shake-ups before next season with Suzuki, in particular, needing support for DeCoster. But that is in the future . . .
WEST GERMAN GP
For the West German GP, a week after the British event, Banks was out on a works Husqvarna but was no threat to the more experienced ringding men. He finished 8th overall, it was at this meeting that Suzuki must have realized just how important it is to have a team of at least two to go title-hunting.
In the first leg Adolf Weil produced that sort of form which riders seem to be able to produce only when in front of a home crowd. Banks had done it a week before and DeCoster was to do it for the third year in succession a week later. For Weil, it meant his first win of the season and an audacious bit of team riding to get Jonsson 2nd spot overall.
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Weil won the first race from DeCoster, with Jonsson 3rd. Then in the second leg Weil again took the lead, but this time Jonsson hung onto 2nd place, with DeCoster 3rd. These positions would have given Weil overall victory, but 2nd place would have been taken by DeCoster on the overall time factor. Weil gambled his victory on the final bend of the second race by letting Jonsson through to win and get a certain 2nd place. Luckily for Maico, it worked. With the relatively unknown Hans Maisch finishing 4th, Maico had three home in the first four to the delight of the German crowd.
BELGIUM
And so they went to Namur in Belgium to race over the famous citadel circuit, one of the most dangerous of the series. It is essential to get a good start here to win, and if you do get a good start and have a couple of teammates behind you, then life can be much less difficult. DeCoster had the support of his fellow countrymen Joel Robert and Sylvain Geboers, who, although racing, could not score world championship points, as they have elected to contest the 25Ü title. So, despite finishing 3rd and 2nd in the two races, Robert could not take 2nd overall from Jonsson (who also finished with a 2nd and 3rd to his credit) even if he had beaten him on time.
So Suzuki gained revenge by DeCoster’s taking overall victory with two 1st places, and so becoming the first rider ever to win three times in a row at the difficult Namur circuit.
In so doing he takes a narrow twopoint lead over Jonsson in the championship, 88-86, with Weil 3rd on 79. It is odds on a win for DeCoster in his first Suzuki attempt at the title, but Jonsson and Weil are there to take advantage of any slip in the final two rounds. Next month we shall know who the champion is for 1971.
250cc MX
There has been no 250 title round in the past month, but here again the title will be fully decided by next month as the riders have three rounds to contend.
The 1971 British 250 motocross champion is Bryan Wade (Husqvarna), who regained the title from Malcolm Davis (Bultaco) by curbing his natural enthusiasm. He had won the fifth round from Davis but then in the sixth, when under pressure from the Bultaco ace, he dropped it and finished 4th. At this stage he led the championship by 20 points. At the next two rounds he decided that as two 2nd places would give him the title, he would not attempt to outride Davis. So. although Davis closed the gap with two wins, Wade has the title with two rounds still to go.
Although both have contested world title rounds this season, neither has had much success. The world title races are of 45 min. duration, (whereas they are only 30 min. for the British), and there I think lies the secret as to why our riders fail to make the grade when it comes to the world series. They just have not got the stamina and the ability to pace themselves for two 45-min. races in one afternoon. It will be interesting to see how they both fare in the British round of the world 250 series to be reported next month. Davis rode the big Bultaco well in the 500 round, lying 5th at one stage until his chain broke.
ROAD RACING
Even though BSA has halted their motocross program, the road racing side has escaped the axe, presumably because of the value of Trident and Rocket sales in the United States. Percy Tait, Ray Pickrell and Paul Smart are all down to ride the Threes at the classic short circuit Hutchinson 100 meeting, and then at a big international Silverstone a couple of weeks later.
AGO AT SILVERSTONE
It will be the first meeting at Silverstone for six years and Giacomo Agostini has been signed to ride, as has Mike Hailwood, tempted no doubt by an offer that will stop his wallet from shrinking for a while. It could well mark the start of a comeback for the ninetimes world champion, who lost the record he held jointly with Carlo Ubbiali when Agostini took his total to 10, clinching this year’s 350 and 500 titles.
Ago has taken the 500cc every year since 1966 and the 350 since 1968. Nobody regrets more than he that the opposition over the past three years has been so poor. Nevertheless, it is a fantastic performance matched only by the reliability of the MV Agusta machinery that he rides-a fact highlighted when he retired on the first lap of this year’s 350-cc race in the Isle of Man.
Despite earlier reports that suggest he may retire at the end of this season, it could be that he will be back on bikes again next year, to nab two more titles and virtual immortality. It is hardly likely that anyone else could achieve such distinction before the natural evolution of the sport reduces the number of titles, possibly to one.
ALLAN JEFFERIES TRIAL
Last winter the trials boys were laughing when a road race meeting at Brands Hatch had to be canceled because of snow on the ground. Ibis month it was the road racers turn to laugh at the exertions of the hog-wheelers, as they sweated and strained in the Allan Jefferies trial, held high on the Yorkshire hills in sweltering hot sunshine.
It was the sort of day the champions will want to forget. Mick Andrews, the European title holder, broke down on the way and was too late to start. Gordon Parley, British champion, had one of those days when he could not even make the first 10. Fortunately for him, his nearest challenger, Malcolm Rathmell, was almost as bad, finishing down in 8th place. The trial was closely fought with lan Haydon (Montesa) winning by one mark, 20-21, from Alan Lampkin (Bultaco), with another Bultaco man, Jim Sandiford, 3rd. Ray Round (BSA) was best of the sidecar entries, losing 38 to the 47 of Jack Mathews (BSA). As a result of his win, Round leads the championship with 66 points to the 48 of Bob Colein, who was 3rd.
In the solo class, Farley still leads with 5 2 from Rathmell, 48, and Martin Lampkin, 47.
BAD NEWS FOR U.K. CYCLISTS
The British Minister of Transport, John Peyton, proposed new measures aimed at reducing the numbers and severity of road casualties in the U.K.
Motorcyclists will be bearing the brunt of the legislation, since the minimum age for licensing will be raised from 16 to 17, and BS1 approved helmets will become mandatory for motorcyclists, scooter and moped (motorized bicycle) riders.
In a written statement in the British House of Commons, Peyton said. “Motorcycle accidents account for 1 1 percent of road deaths. Three thousand three hundred people were killed or seriously injured last year in accidents involving 16-year-old riders of motorcycles or scooters. The minimum age for holding a license to drive any motorcycle, other than a moped, should be 17. the same as that for driving a ear.
“To reduce the severity of motorcycle casualties, in which two-thirds of all deaths are caused by head injuries, riders and passengers on motorcycles, scooters and mopeds will be obliged to wear a crash helmet of approved design.
“Many motorcycle accidents are caused by lack of experience. 1 intend to discuss with the Royal Automobile Club and motorcycle manufacturers means of improving or encouraging training.”
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The RAC has been conducting training courses for motorcyclists for about 20 years, in cooperation with the Auto Cycle Union, the British counterpart of the AMA. And although motorcycling and motorcycle accidents are declining in the U.K., the number of young motorcyclists involved in mishaps remains high. British figures indicate that:
Nearly 17 percent of the motorcyclists killed or injured seriously are I 6 years old.
Accidents involving the l 6-year-old group of motorcyclists in fatal or serious injury involved 500 pedestrians and a similar number of other road users.
l;or miles traveled, the motorcyclist is nearly 30 times more likely to become a casualty statistic than the car driver.
Motorcycle accidents injure pedestrians about four times as often as cars, mile for mile.
Raising the age limit to 17 for the operation of motorcycles, scooters and mopeds will cut fatal and serious injuries by 2000 a year, says Peyton. Additionally. this will affect the operation of three-wheel cars, traditionally classed as motorcycles by the British authorities. There are many of these in the U.K., ranging from detuned golf carts capable of no more than a sluggish trundle, to hairy machines powered by frontmounted, lOOO-cc vee Twins with exposed tappets, spraying a fine oil mist back into the operator’s grinning face.
Head injuries are involved in nearly 70 percent of all motorcycle, scooter and moped deaths in the U.K. British studies indicate that wearing a helmet will reduce the possibility of death or serious injury by between 30 and 50 percent.
At this time, although helmets are not compulsory, 80 percent of all motorcyclists, 75 percent of the scooter riders and 50 percent of moped riders wear helmets. The proposed change will require all operators and passengerswith the exception of sidecar passengers to wear BSl-approved helmets.
The new measures severe by British standardsfollow the release of the 1970 traffic accident statistics by the Road Research Laboratory. Deaths amounting to 7500 and 356,000 injuries resulted from road accidents last year, and unless something is done, the toll will nudge the half-million mark by the mid-Seventies. In a nation of less than 60.000.000 people, the concern is easily justified. [Ö]
